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Title details for Henry Wallace's 1948 Presidential Campaign and the Future of Postwar Liberalism by Thomas W. Devine - Available

Henry Wallace's 1948 Presidential Campaign and the Future of Postwar Liberalism

by Thomas W. Devine
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In the presidential campaign of 1948, Henry Wallace set out to challenge the conventional wisdom of his time, blaming the United States, instead of the Soviet Union, for the Cold War, denouncing the popular Marshall Plan, and calling for an end to segregation. In addition, he argued that domestic fascism—rather than international communism—posed the primary threat to the nation. He even welcomed Communists into his campaign, admiring their commitment to peace. Focusing on what Wallace himself later considered his campaign's most important aspect, the troubled relationship between non-Communist progressives like himself and members of the American Communist Party, Thomas W. Devine demonstrates that such an alliance was not only untenable but, from the perspective of the American Communists, undesirable.
Rather than romanticizing the political culture of the Popular Front, Devine provides a detailed account of the Communists' self-destructive behavior throughout the campaign and chronicles the frustrating challenges that non-Communist progressives faced in trying to sustain a movement that critiqued American Cold War policies and championed civil rights for African Americans without becoming a sounding board for pro-Soviet propaganda.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 27, 2013

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781469607924
      • File size: 3453 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781469607924
      • File size: 3453 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2013

      Often ignored if not entirely forgotten, Henry A. Wallace of Iowa was a pivotal and controversial figure in mid-20th-century U.S. politics. A visionary, Wallace was Franklin D. Roosevelt's first secretary of agriculture and his second vice president, from 1941 to 1945. In 1948, under the banner of the Progressive Party, Wallace mounted a quixotic challenge to the reelection of President Harry Truman, whom Wallace accused of threatening America directly with domestic fascism. Devine (history, California State Univ., Northridge) examines Wallace's quest for the White House as he allied his campaign with the U.S. Communist Party's pro-Soviet stance. Wallace's quest, as Devine effectively demonstrates through extensive research, was haunted by the specter of communism. Even though Wallace raised domestic and international issues central to the American political experience (race, war and peace, national security, civil liberties), his campaign essentially imploded on about every level. He finished fourth, behind GOP nominee Thomas E. Dewey and Dixiecrat dissident Strom Thurmond. VERDICT This is not a Wallace biography; it's a penetrating and persuasive account of the first postwar U.S. presidential contest and one of the most contentious in our history. Highly recommended, especially for serious students of American politics and presidential elections.--Stephen Kent Shaw, Northwest Nazarene Coll., Nampa, ID

      Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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